From the outside, Gina Champion-Cain appeared to be a successful San Diego entrepreneur and real estate developer with a group of thriving restaurants and retail stores.
But the image was only a mirage.
In reality, authorities say Champion-Cain was funding her lavish lifestyle and businesses using money she’d stolen in a massive Ponzi scheme totaling more than $350 million—earning her the distinction as the mastermind of the largest female-run Ponzi scheme in United States history, according to the latest episode of CNBC’s “American Greed,” airing Tuesday.
When Champion-Cain arrived in San Diego from Michigan in the late 1980s, she had dreams of being a successful real estate developer and formed her own company, American National Investments.
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“I think her ambition was to be famous,” said Neil Senturia, author of a book on the scandal titled “I Did It.” “I think that you have to understand that if you pick real estate development, it’s pretty high-profile and they write articles about you and if you’re right, you make a lot of money.”
Champion-Cain quickly became a regular fixture in San Diego’s downtown and political scene, appearing in podcasts, television interviews and government meetings.
“She was very adept at interweaving herself into the fabric of downtown,” real estate manager Howard Greenberg recalled.
But Champion-Cain may not have been as…
